I've won a license from DevExpress, what should i get?

Question

I do not have experience with DevExpress products, so I do not know which license i should take.

My first thought obviously was not going for some of their components, as this is not really interesting for 'personal' use.

So one of their Visual Studio® Productivity Tools looks interesting. But which one is the most interesting?

What do you guys think?

Answer 1

If you can I would get the universal license it gives you access to all DX products.

Answer 2

CodeRush and Refactor! are amazing products. The templating engine, especially, is a blast. Customizable, extendable, context-aware... try it and you won't ever want to use Visual Studio without it again.

I've also been using their WinForms control for almost ten years now. They're nice, but you must be very careful using them because unfortunately DevExpress has a strong culture of swallowing exceptions. It ain't my only concern with them but it's most certainly the main one.

Answer 3

If you are already using a productivity addin, I'd go for the .NET control packs - DevExpress have done an amazing job redesigning a lot of the standard functionality that .NET brings with its controls, and it's well worth the download.

If you aren't already using a productivity addin (CodeRush or ReSharper seem to be the main contenders) - I'd go for CodeRush + Refactor - an excellent set of productivity tools that seriously improve your coding speed.

Answer 4

I'd opt for CodeRush + Refactor, a great set of tools to help your productivity.

Answer 5

I'd go for .NET control packs. Winforms or ASP.NET, or both, if possible. They were pretty good, a vast improvement over the default ones that .NET has built in.